Where DOES the time go??
This will be a brief post since I worked a 12-hour day, which was longer than the rest of the week - only 11-1/2 hours/day. This is why they pay me the BIG BUCKS and give me a house with a 180-degree view of the ocean.
* The big deal this week and last has been preparing for and conducting a fuel spill response training. It turned into a leadership circus even though it was supposed to be a self-assessment training in preparation for a big spill response exercise in November. THAT should be REAL FUN in the gale-force winds I've been hearing about. The emphasis of this training was two-fold: on-water deployment of booms and a skimmer by our 30-member first-responder team, and "classroom" sessions to learn the process of developing an Incident Action Plan. Also, there are several forms that have to be filled out to document every stage of the incident. My four environmental folks, Vitor (vee tore), Tome (too may), Susana, and Duarte (do art) were all involved, but Vitor planned and led the event.
* In our scenario, an earthquake caused the largest of our fuel tanks to rupture, allowing 10 M gallons of JP8 (jet) fuel to run down to the marina through the storm drain. (By the way, only the AF base on Guam has a larger tank.) The goal was to place booms in the water to prevent the fuel from moving beyond the harbor.
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The South Tank Farm, where it all began. In the Azores, everything looks picturesque;-}
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The Marina at picturesque Praia da Vitoria,
where the fuel was headed. |
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Well, maybe not EVERYTHING looks
picturesque in the Azores. |
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Vitor (left) gives directions to the team.
Susana is in red and Tome is in the striped shirt |
First, we all met near the Marina to organize and pull the gear together. It was a gorgeous day - perfect weather. From the photos, it probably looks as if we were pretty disorganized. We were.
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| The reel deal |
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| Trying to start the skimmer. |
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| Twisted boom. |
Most of the team has done this before, but it's still a new program. There were some glitches along the way. The boom had been twisted when it was put back on the reel by a contractor, so it took extra time and effort getting it straight. Also, the skimmer wouldn't start. And then the battery in one of the boats died. Otherwise, everything went like a charm.
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| Firefighters on land...Our firefighters make up the largest segment of the response team, and they have captain's licenses. |
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| ...become the Lajes Navy! |
Meanwhile on the land...the military and civil dignitaries were gathering to watch the training from the roof of the marina office (and guess who got to hob nob with all of them??).
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Col Parr, our new Vice Wing Commander, is on the left.
I think he'll be an ally in getting me a new Environmental Branch Chief. |
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| I asked if I could take photos of "the guys," and they staged some "candid" poses. That's why they all look as if whatever they're looking at is funny. I guess Capt Santana didn't get the memo. |
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Captain Branco (maritime jurisdiction) (l)
and Col Rivera (our Wing Commander). |
I happened to be the only photographer around until the guy from Public Affairs showed up, but he didn't have the right vantage point to capture the good shots.
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| Vitor points out elements of the training to Maj Gen Francisco. |
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Lt Col Scharf (Base Civil Engineer - my boss)
and Lt Col Tobia (political affairs) This is the storyboard we put together and Vitor translated into Portuguese. |
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Maj Gen Francisco (Base Commander - it's a Portuguese base;
the USAF is a tenant) and Col Rivera |
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Yours truly with Capt Santana (Port Captain) and Capt Branco on the Marinha .
The yellow "stripe" to the left of Capt Santana is part of one of the booms. |
That's all for tonight. I spent a wee bit longer on it than I thought I would - like 3 hours longer. And this was just one day!!!
Tchau for nau!
